Together for Our Planet

Greener Kirkcaldy
  1. Funding
  2. Funding programmes
  3. Together for Our Planet

This programme is closed to applications.

We’re offering from £1,000 to £10,000 of National Lottery funding to support communities across the UK to take action on climate change.

Projects should reflect what matters to your community and can be small in scale. They could cover an area like:

  • food
  • transport
  • energy
  • waste and consumption
  • the natural environment.

You do not need to be an expert in any of these areas to apply. We’re particularly interested to hear from people starting to think about taking action on climate change in their communities.

In November 2021, the UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. The UK Government’s Together for Our Planet initiative has been created to engage people with COP26 and inspire positive climate action. National Lottery funding will support this by helping communities to take action on climate change.

Building on interest and excitement for this international conference, we hope to nurture and develop local ideas through this funding, supporting a legacy of ongoing climate action projects in hundreds of communities across the UK.

Area
UK-wide
Suitable for
Voluntary or community organisations
Funding size
£1,000 to £10,000
Total available
£3.5 million - We’ve had a lot of interest in our Together for Our Planet programme - demonstrating how much climate action matters to people - and we’re delighted that during COP26 we can now provide a further £1 million to support communities across the UK to take action on climate change.
Application deadline

Closed to applications. Any applications that are still in progress will no longer be able to be submitted.

How to apply

This programme is closed. Any applications that are still in progress will no longer be able to be submitted.

We only have a certain amount of funding to award

We expect to make approximately 400 to 500 awards through this programme. We’re expecting a lot of applications for worthwhile projects. This means we'll have to make some difficult decisions and there may be lots of projects we cannot fund.

We’re keen to fund a mix of communities and places and will be looking to spread the funding across the UK, and a range of activities being delivered across the projects.

If you're applying, make sure your project meets what we're looking for. Make sure you also check who can and cannot apply before filling out the application form.

If you’re not sure, contact us. The team will be happy to help. You can also check what other funding programmes you might be able to apply to.

You can apply if you have a current grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, but the project should not duplicate work we’re already funding you to do. However, you do not have to have received funding from us before, and we're particularly keen to support groups who have not received funding from us before.

How long will it take to get a decision?

We’ll try to give you a decision within a maximum of 12 weeks.

We expect most of the funding to support activities taking place after the COP26 conference (which runs from 1 to 12 November 2021).

We can no longer accept applications for activities taking place during COP26 as we would not be able to give you a decision in time.

You can contact us if you have any communication support needs. We’re happy to talk about alternative ways for you to tell us about your idea.

What information you need to apply

We ask for the contact details, home addresses and dates of birth of two different people from your organisation.

Both contacts need to have different email addresses.

  • One person should be someone we can talk to if we have any questions about your project.
  • The other should be a senior member of your organisation, who'll be legally responsible for the funding.

Both need to live in the UK.

You’ll need to let the senior contact know that you are including their information as part of the application.

These two people cannot be:

  • related by blood
  • married to each other
  • in a civil partnership with each other
  • in a long-term relationship with each other
  • living together at the same address.

We ask for the legal name of your organisation - and its address. And what type of organisation it is

Make sure these are up to date and match up with any information or identity documents we ask for (when you get to the application part).

We ask for information about your organisation’s accounts

We want to know the date your accounts wrap up each year and how much income you have.

If you do not have yearly accounts because you’re a new organisation (less than 15 months old), that’s okay. We can still look at your application.

Send us your bank statement

What we need

We ask for one bank statement dated within the last three months. So, we can check the account you want us to pay the grant into.

We'll not be able to assess your application if you do not have a bank account and bank statement that meet our requirements below and you’ll need to reapply once you have these set up. If you’re not sure contact us

We need:

  1. A bank account that meets our needs in our Financial Controls and Financial Governance Guidance
  2. A bank statement that meets our needs.

It should show:

  • the bank logo
  • your organisation's legal name
  • the address the statements are sent to
  • your bank's name
  • the account number and sort code
  • the date the statement was issued.

Here’s a picture of the kind of bank statement we’re looking for.

We ask you for information about your project

And how your project will meet the priorities listed in ‘The projects we fund’.

What happens after you apply

  1. You send us your application - we'll get back to you with a decision in around 12 weeks. During these 12 weeks, we look at your idea and do our security checks. You can find out more about the checks we do. We might give you a call within those 12 weeks, to talk a little more about your idea or ask for more information.
  2. If your application is successful - we'll send you an email with the good news. You can start your project as soon as you get this email, if you want to. And we’ll put the funding in your bank account within 14 days (or sooner, if possible).
  3. We’ll contact everyone who applied with more information about the UK Government’s Together for Our Planet initiative and other ways to get involved. 
  4. You can start spending the funding on your project - you should spend the funding the way you said you would in your application (unless we’ve agreed to something different first). We might check in from time to time to see how things are going. Find out more about managing your funding
  5. Share your project story - let people know about your grant and the amazing work you're doing in your community. Sharing news about your project with your community can be a great way to keep them involved and engaged. You can find out more about how to promote your grant. Your award email will also include details on how to publicise your grant and let people know about how your project is supporting people in your community.

We also ask you to read and agree to our terms and conditions

Read the terms and conditions.

If you’re not sure about the sort of things we ask for when you apply

Contact us.

You can also read our Data Protection statement to find out how we use the personal data you give us.

Who can and cannot apply?

You can apply if you are a:

  • constituted group or club
  • voluntary or community organisation
  • registered charity
  • charitable incorporated organisation (CIO/SCIO)
  • community interest company (CIC)
  • not-for-profit company
  • school, college, university (as long as your project benefits and involves the wider local communities)
  • statutory body (including town, parish and community council)
  • community benefit society.

We cannot accept applications from:

  • individuals
  • sole traders
  • organisations that can pay profits to directors, shareholders or members (including Companies Limited by Shares)
  • organisations based outside the UK
  • one individual or organisation applying on behalf of another.

Board or committee members

It’s really important that organisations that apply have at least two people on their board or committee who are not related.

By related, we mean:

  • married to each other
  • in a civil partnership with each other
  • in a long-term relationship with each other
  • living together at the same address
  • related by blood.

All companies who apply must have at least two directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.

If you’re a school or an organisation working in a school

Your project needs to strengthen the community outside of the school too. It should benefit and involve more than just:

  • teachers
  • pupils
  • parents of pupils.

We will not fund school projects that:

  • improve school facilities or equipment that are not available for the wider community to use
  • help with staff training
  • are part of the school curriculum
  • involve activities the school should already be providing (like a project teaching literacy during school hours)
  • take place during teaching times (before and after school might be okay).

We cannot accept multiple applications from the same group or organisation.

If you’re not sure if you can apply

Contact us. The team will be happy to help. You can also check what other funding programmes you might be able to apply to.

The projects we fund

To ensure as many people and communities as possible can get involved, we’ll prioritise applications from:

  • people and communities hit hardest by climate change
  • people and communities who are starting to think about taking climate action
  • groups who have not received funding from us before
  • groups who do not have a current award with us
  • smaller organisations with an annual turnover of under £100,000.

Other organisations can apply, but please consider these factors first. You can still apply if you have a current grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, but the project should not duplicate work we’re already funding you to do.

Make sure you also check who can and cannot apply before filling out the application form.

Your project activities

We can fund lots of different climate action activities. Projects should reflect what matters to your community and what climate action means for you. They can be small in scale and might be new plans for your community or might be about celebrating the work you’re already doing.

They could cover an area like:

  • food
  • transport
  • energy
  • waste and consumption
  • the natural environment.

You do not need to be an expert in any of these areas to apply.

We recognise that activities may still need to respond to specific lockdown rules and regulations related to COVID-19. We also know these are likely to vary across the UK. We understand that projects will need to stay flexible about what they are able to do. We’ll be as flexible as we can too.

All projects must be about developing a community-led climate action project. Your project will also need to meet at least two of these criteria:

  1. It supports the development of longer-term climate action within communities (that is, taking place after the COP26 event in November).
  2. It encourages communities to plan for the climate emergency - to consider what climate action could mean to them and why it matters.
  3. It celebrates the importance of community-led climate action and encourages more people to get involved.
  4. It builds resilience in communities that are hardest hit by climate change.
  5. It provides jobs, skills or training opportunities for communities which support climate action.

Whilst this programme is inspired by COP26, we're looking to support a legacy in communities beyond the event itself. If you’re considering applying for costs for a one-off event, we’d also expect you to include activities that take place beyond the event.

You should consider the environmental impact of your project and try to reduce, reuse and recycle where possible. You can find further help with reducing your group’s environmental impact on our guidance page.

The projects we’re unlikely to fund

  • applications for statutory activities
  • applications for broader environmental projects that do not directly link to climate change (for example community litter picks)
  • applications for costs to attend the COP26 event, such as transport or accommodation.

We'll support a range of projects

We're keen that projects reflect a mix of communities and places from across the UK. We’ll make sure there's a spread of funding across the UK and a range of activities being delivered across the projects.

We'll take this into account when assessing your application against others that we receive.

You must involve your community in your project

We believe that people understand what's needed in their communities better than anyone. It’s important to us that you involve your community in the design, development and delivery of the activities you’re planning.

This short video explains it well - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFkavT5kGSk. It might be helpful when you’re putting your application together.

Delivering your project in Welsh

When you receive funding from The National Lottery Community Fund for a project in Wales, you'll need to deliver it in Welsh as well as English, and make sure all your activities are available to your community in both languages.

For further information, read our guidance on managing your project bilingually or contact the Welsh Language Team at welshlanguage.advice@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk.

If your project works with children, young people or vulnerable adults

You need to have a policy in place that explains how they'll be safe. And we might ask to see this policy if we decide to give you funding.

The NSPCC has lots of helpful advice about setting up and following good child safeguarding policies.

If you're not sure about the sort of projects we fund

You can always contact us. 

What can you spend money on?

We can pay for activities or items, costing between £1,000 and £10,000 in total, that will support your community to take climate action. These could be activities that bring people together to talk about what matters to them and what they want to do, events to raise awareness or to reach other members of the community, or equipment to support something such as a community growing project.

You must spend the money within 12 months of getting it.

These lists do not include everything. So, if you're not sure, contact us.

We can fund:

  • community-led research, feasibility studies or work to create a plan as to how and what climate action will look like for your community
  • events and activity costs
  • equipment and materials
  • staff costs (proportionate to the funded activity)
  • training costs
  • transport costs related to your project (but we cannot fund the costs of travel to and from the COP26 event)
  • utilities or running costs related to your project
  • volunteer expenses
  • costs associated with delivering your project bilingually, like translation costs
  • small land or building projects. You’ll need to either:
    • own the land or building
    • have a lease that cannot be ended for five years
    • have a letter from the owner saying the land or building will be leased to you for at least five years, or
    • have an official letter from the owner or landlord that says you're allowed to do work on the land or building and you should also think about getting planning permission for the work.

We can fund some capital costs as part of a wider project (for example, raised beds within a community garden project). However, we'd not be likely to fund a solely capital project.

Whilst this programme is inspired by COP26, we are looking to support a legacy in communities beyond the event itself. If you're considering applying for costs for a one-off event we’d also expect you to include activities that take place beyond the event.

We cannot fund:

  • alcohol
  • items which will only benefit an individual or family, rather than the wider community 
  • contingency costs, loans, endowments or interest
  • electricity generation
  • political activities
  • religious activities (although we can fund religious organisations if their project benefits the wider community and does not include religious content) 
  • profit-making or fundraising activities
  • VAT you can reclaim
  • statutory activities
  • costs that have already been incurred 
  • activities that improve educational attainment - personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), English
  • overseas travel or projects that take place outside of the UK.

If you’re not sure if you can apply 

Contact us. The team will be happy to help. You can also check what other funding programmes you might be able to apply to.